Allow Indian couple to bring back their children, Norway told

India has conveyed its "serious concerns" to Norway over separation of two children from their Indian parents there and insisted that the kids should be allowed to return with the couple in case they decide to come back home.

India has conveyed its "serious concerns" to Norway over separation of two children from their Indian parents there and insisted that the kids should be allowed to return with the couple in case they decide to come back home.

Children of Anurup Bhattacharya, a geoscientist who is working in Norway since 2007, were taken under protective care by Norwegian Child Welfare Services and placed in foster parental care on grounds that the couple failed to properly take care of them.

While the Indian embassy in Oslo had "vigorously" pursued the matter with the Norwegian foreign ministry on Wednesday, a similar démarche was made with the Norwegian embassy in New Delhi on Thursday, an external affairs ministry statement said.

India's serious concerns were conveyed regarding the need to take into account social and cultural traditions of the country to which the parents and the children belong before taking a decision to separate the children from the parents.

"It was also emphasised that if the parents decide to return to India then the children should be allowed to return with them as there could be no doubt that it would be in the long-term interest of the two young Indian children as they would be brought up in the loving care of their extended family in India," the statement said.

As the children were Indian nationals, the Embassy has sought access to them to check on their welfare.

Reports said that the parents are worried over the fate of their children as their visas expire in February, 2012. They said the couple fear that their children would not be allowed to return with them.